1. Field of the Invention
An object of the present invention is to develop a product containing a highly safe and physiologically active substance having an anticancer action, an apoptosis-inducing action, and the like, and to offer a functional food or beverage exhibiting a high physiological effect containing said product. The present invention also offers antibacterial agents, dentifrices, antiseptic agents, apoptosis inducers, anticancer agents and antiulcer agents containing said product as an effective component. The present invention further offers a method for inducing apoptosis where said method is useful, for example, in elucidating the mechanism of apoptosis and in screening the apoptosis inhibitors. The present invention still further offers a method for the manufacture of a product containing the physiologically active substance of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a phenomenon called xe2x80x9capoptosisxe2x80x9d which is a self-destructive cell death or a suicidal cell death has attracted attentions regarding the death of cell tissues.
Unlike a necrosis which is a pathological cell death, an apoptosis is considered to be the death which is inherently programmed in genes of the cells themselves. Thus, it is believed that some external or internal factors trigger the activation of genes which program the apoptosis whereby a programmed death gene protein is biosynthesized based upon the genes and the cells themselves are decomposed by the resulting programmed death gene protein whereby the death is resulted.
If such an apoptosis can be expressed in a desired tissue or cell, it will be quite meaningful because unnecessary or pathogenic cells such as cancer cells can be eliminated from the living body in a natural manner.
An object of the present invention is to develop a product containing a highly safe and physiologically active substance having an anticancer action, an apoptosis-inducing action, and the like whereby a method for the manufacture of said product and also food or beverage containing said product are offered. Another object of the present invention is to offer pharmaceuticals such as antibacterial agents and apoptosis inducers containing said compound and to offer a method of inducing an apoptosis using said product as an effective component.
An outline of the present invention will be as follows. Thus, the first aspect of the present invention is a product obtained by heating at least one substance selected from the following (a), (b) and (c).
(a) uronic acid or uronic acid derivative;
(b) a saccharide compound containing uronic acid or a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative; and
(c) a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid or a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative.
The second aspect of the present invention is a method for the manufacture of a heat-treated product, characterized in that, said method includes a step of heating at least one substance selected from the following (a), (b) and (c).
(a) uronic acid or uronic acid derivative;
(b) a saccharide compound containing uronic acid or a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative; and
(c) a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid or a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative.
The present inventors have found that a heat-treated product (hereinafter, said product will be referred to as a xe2x80x9cheat-treated product of the present inventionxe2x80x9d) of at least one substance selected from uronic acid, uronic acid derivative, a saccharide compound containing uronic acid, a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative, a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid and a substance containing a saccharide compound containing uronic acid derivative has a potent anticancer action, apoptosis-inducing action, antibacterial action and antiulcer action whereby the present invention has been achieved.